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Top Canadian CEOs took home $14.9 million, nearly 250 times more than average worker: CCPA
January 2, 2024
By
Talent Canada
From left, J. Patrick Doyle of Restaurant Brands International; Matthew Proud of Dye & Durham; and Seetarama S. Kotagiri of Magna International, were the highest paid Canadian CEOs in 2022. Canada’s top 100 CEOs were paid an average of $14.9 million in 2022, according to new data from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
It’s a record-breaking year for compensation, with the CCPA saying it exemplifies a “new gilded era that Canada’s rich seem to be in.”
Compared to 2008, when the average pay was $7.4 million, compensation has more than doubled. To put the data in another perspective, the average top 100 CEO made 246 times more than the average worker in 2022.
Worker compensation
In 2022, the average Canadian worker received a raise of $1,800, or three per cent, from $58,800 in 2021 to $60,600 in 2022. But inflation eroded those gains as prices rose 6.8 per cent in 2022 — with the cost of things like housing and food soaring even higher.
The top 100 CEOs, by comparison, received an average raise of $623,000 — or 4.4 per cent — going from $14.3 million in 2021 to $14.9 million in 2022.
By the hour
According to the CCPA data, the average top 100 CEO earns $7,162 per hour. That means it takes them slightly more than eight hours to earn what the average worker earns in an entire year.
“By 9:27 a.m. on January 2, 2024, Canada’s top CEOs would have already made $60,600 while the average Canadian worker will toil all year long to earn that amount of pay,” wrote David Macdonald, senior economist with the CCPA, in his executive summary.
Gender inequality
The list of top 100 CEOs remains heavily male dominated in Canada. Just four of the CEOs are women, while men named Mark and Scott occupy eight spots.
“This year, the average Mark made $18.5 million and the average woman made $11.7 million,” said Macdonald. “In other words, the average top female CEO makes 63 cents for every dollar a CEO named Mark makes.”
Top earning CEOs
Here are the top 10 Canadian CEOs by total compensation in 2022:
- J. Patrick Doyle, Restaurant Brands International (Executive chairman). $151.8 million
- Matthew Proud, Dye & Durham. $98.9 million
- Seetarama S. Kotagiri, Magna International. $36.4 million
- Tony Staffieri, Rogers Communications. $31.5 million
- Mark J. Barrenechea, Open Text. $30.3 million
- Tobias Lutke, Shopify. $26 million
- Gary Berman, Tricon Residential. $25.8 million
- Joseph C. Papa, Bausch Health Companies. $25.8 million
- Irwin Simon, Tilray Brands. $25.3 million
- Jose Cil, Restaurant Brands International (CEO). $22.2 million.
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